One of our newest CBC churches needs our help. The Miracle Fishing Church in Guatemala has a problem: they are out of room. People are left standing around the walls, with no room for Sunday school and bible study classes. No room for training classes even though we are looking to this church to be our training hub in Guatemala. No room for a special children’s program, or any other type of growth. In short, no room.
This is a wonderful church that joined the Covenant Brethren Church almost a year ago. They have been leading the charge to connect other churches to CBC in Guatemala. Churches that are looking for a group to connect to that will stand firm on God’s word and provide Christ-centered, Bible-focused training for pastors. They had been approached by other groups over the years who wanted them to join them but it never felt right. When they met with leadership from CBC they said they had found a home of like-minded, bible-believing Christians, and within a couple of months, they had applied for membership. When some of the leadership was there in February of 2023, Pastor Walter showed them land that the church had purchased, looking to the future. In the picture, you see the Covenant leaders and with the pastor and Adam Clemmons, a missionary there, laying hands on the land asking God to use this place to honor His work there and to be a launching pad for the Covenant Brethren Church in Guatemala.
Now the church is ready to build on that land but the funds have to be raised. It is the custom in Guatemala to build as you have the money rather than going into debt. The church is doing all it can to set money back to start this project but, perhaps you can help. In the United States, it would cost $150 or more per square foot to build a church. Because of the type of construction, concrete block, the lower cost of labor, and the fact that they don’t need to worry about heat or snow load, the cost of building in Guatemala is around $65 per square foot. That means you can support the building of one square foot of this church for only $65. You can help establish the center of our Guatemala mission center for just $65. You can help this church have room to seat all of their people during the service for just $65. You can provide rooms on the second and third floors for the training of children and even future pastors for just $65. You can pay for one of the 14,000 square feet that this church will contain and you may even be able to walk into this church someday on a short-term mission trip and say, “See this square foot of the church, I paid for that.”
As Grover Duling is seen speaking in the present building, you can see the smiles on the faces. These are good, Jesus-honoring, Godly people who are trying to do ministry as the first Covenant Brethren Church in Guatemala. Will you help support them? If so, you can make your check out to Covenant Brethren Church and send it c/o Fred Shank, 4955 Thomas Spring Rd., Bridgewater VA 26812 and put “Miracle Fishing Church Building Fund” in the memo. It is our prayer that one day there will be Covenant Brethren Churches all over Guatemala with this as our center for organization and training. You can help make that a reality. Perhaps your men’s or women’s group could do a square foot or more. Perhaps your youth group could do a fundraiser to see how many square feet they could pay for. Perhaps your church could add this to a mission’s budget or take a special offering, or just make a donation to the effort. When was the last time someone said, you can bless a whole church for $65. Why not ask God what he would have you do? Why not be blessed by taking the blessing God has given you, and passing it on for His glory?
Craig Howard for the Executive Board
